The present invention is directed to an unmanned aerial vehicle in the nature of a biplane, that is portable, modular and includes a forward pair of wings and a rearward pair of wings, the wings being staggered fore and aft and vertically separated at their wing tips, the wing tips engaged through a pair of tip plates.
Unmanned aerial vehicles have been complex and difficult to operate in their intended environment. What is needed is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is modular, provides an airfoil that will give high lift and low drag loiter, cruise and dash speeds, yet provide stability for a variety of payloads.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles having an airplane type configuration for performing a variety of aerial missions where the use of manned flight vehicles is not deemed appropriate. Such aerial missions include surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition and/or designation, data acquisition, mine detection, communications relay, decoy, jamming, harassment, or supply flights. Many types of ground surveillance missions are beyond the practical capabilities of a human observer due to the inability to see over a hill. For example, missions that are inherently hazardous or that require surveillance at multiple sites over a short time span.
Currently, small UAVs are being used by various governments, primarily in military operations. Many of these UAVs, however, are unwieldy and large due to their conventional wing configurations, or required logistical support.
No lightweight UAV currently available employs novel wing configuration capable of providing a substantial payload in a relatively compact package of limited wing span while maintaining an exceptional airspeed envelope over which it will provide a stable platform for missions data collection.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle that is easy to assemble using simple tools and toolless assembly methods.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an aircraft that is modular.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an aircraft that is light in weight and easy to assemble.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an aircraft that is stable at a wide range of operational speeds.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle that has the capability to carry various heavy payloads (such as an infrared camera) in relationship to its size and weight and still maintain its intrinsic flight characteristics.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for a simple system of emergency parachute deployment for emergency landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for an unmanned aerial vehicle with remote control and wireless transmission of imagery from one or more onboard sensors for display at a remote ground control station.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel wing configuration capable of providing a sufficient flight envelope and stable platform for payloads including infrared, thermal imagers, low light T.V. cameras or video cameras and associated surveillance apparatus.
Applicants provide for these and other objects in an unmanned airborne reconnaissance vehicle having a fuselage, a forward wing pair and a rearward wing pair, the two wing pairs separated vertically by a gap and staggered fore and aft therebetween, forming a general biplane configuration, and including a pair of tip plates for joining the wing tips.
This and other objects are provided in Applicant""s novel staggerwinged biplane having vertically and horizontally separated tips and stagger between the trailing edge of the forward wings and a leading edge of the rearward wings, the novel biplane further including a power plant to propel the vehicle through the air.
This and other objects are provided for in Applicants"" novel biplane configuration that may include a generally T-shaped tail having a vertical stabilizer including a rudder and a horizontal stabilator, or a conventional tail with a tractor mounted powerplant.
This and other objects are provided in Applicants"" novel stagger winged biplane UAV including ailerons on a rear wing pair.
This and other objects are provided in Applicants"" novel stagger winged, biplane UAV further including a novel custom airfoil for optimized flight speed envelope.